Binding stakeholders into moral communities: A review of studies on social responsibility of business

This paper revisits the issue of business social responsibility with a view to reiterate its relevance in the contemporary scenario characterised by an overarching presence of private businesses and blurring of the barriers between not-for-profit and for-profit enterprises. The paper reviews the evolution of major theoretical positions of business social responsibility to demonstrate how the basic understanding of the term traversed through time and alongside changes in forms of business organisation and interpretations of the morality of private property. It draws on stakeholding and social contract theories to underscore the moral and social responsibility of businesses to broaden their vision beyond profit and stakeholder value.